40. It may
be said that humility
is the most efficacious remedy for all evil and a most potent antidote
to preserve the soul from that death and guilt which leads to
everlasting
perdition. And yet it is this virtue which we neglect most of all.

O my soul,
God, Who Himself
desires thine eternal salvation, desires also that thou shouldst
acquire
it through humility; "And humility goeth before glory"; [Prov. xv, 33]
therefore bow down and adore His sovereign Will. When we say the "Our
Father,"
let us meditate upon that petition, in which we ask that the Will of
God
may be done, and let us apply that prayer to our own needs: O my God,
since
Thou desirest that I should be humble, "Thy Will be done." Thy Will is
done in Heaven by all those blessed Spirits who worship Thee with
profound
humility; may Thy Will be done by me also! "Thy Will be done on earth,
as it is Heaven." And in the same way let us apply the last petition to
ourselves also, saying: "And deliver us from evil," praying God to
deliver
us and preserve us from pride, which is the worst of all evils, if
indeed
it may not be called the greatest of all sins; for St. Augustine,
inquiring
into which sin King David desired most to be delivered from when he
said,
" I shall be cleansed from the greatest sin," [Ps. xviii, 14] answers
that
this sin was pride, for pride is the greatest of all sins, because it
is
the chief of all sins and the cause and origin of them all: "This I
take
to be pride, which is the chief and cause of every sin." [Enarr. in Ps.
xviii]

41.
We may say that one of the principal causes of our lack of humility is
that we forget too readily the sins we have committed. We only think of
our sins when we are preparing for Confession, and even then we only
think
of our sins in order to sum up their kind and number, in order to make
a valid Confession, but we hardly ever stop to consider their gravity,
enormity and malice. And even if we do bestow some slight thought on
them,
it is only in order to flatter ourselves that our sorrow is sufficient
for the validity of our Confession, and what is still more amazing is
that
we are hardly out of the Confessional when the remembrance of all our
sins
vanishes, and even the greatest sinner lives in a state of absolute
peace,
as if he had always led the most innocent of lives. O miserable state!
We always retain a vivid remembrance of those insults which we receive
from our fellow-men, thereby fostering our resentment; but we do not
bear
in remembrance those insults which we have offered to God, thereby
becoming
humble and exhorting ourselves to repentance. What wonder that we do
not
become humble if we remain oblivious to these urgent motives for
humility!

Let
us remember our sins, not in order that they should make us
over-scrupulous,
but so as to live in due humility. It is for that same reason that
Jeremias
the prophet said that he who does not do penance does not practice
humility,
because "There is none that saith: What have I done?" [Jer. viii, 6] If
we thought well over this, "What have I done?" what have I done in
sinning?
what have I done in offending God? our hearts would certainly be far
more
contrite and humble. But few think of this.

We
call upon the heavens to be astonished at us: "Be astonished, O ye
heavens,
at this." [Jer. ii, 12] If a nobleman is insulted in some public resort
by a low-born menial, the offense is considered great, and an adequate
punishment is demanded for such an outrage; and yet it is only a man
who
has been insulted by another man, a worm that is offended by another
worm,
nothingness offended by nothingness. But that this worm, this
nothingness,
should insult the Divine majesty of God apparently causes no dismay.
"Be
astonished, O ye heavens," but at least let us be ashamed and humble
ourselves
for our insensate hardness of heart.

42.
There are two special virtues which the Son of God wished to teach us,
and recommended us most earnestly to practice------humility and
brotherly
love; and it is precisely against these two virtues that the devil
wages
war the most. But it is enough that he should succeed in conquering
humility
for love to be overcome at the same time, because, as St. Augustine
says:
"You cannot attain to charity except through humility." [Enarr. in Ps.
cxxx, et serm. 10 de Verb. Dom.]

Pride is
always ready to take
offense; and with this disposition to resent slights and injuries how
is
it possible to live in charity? When we find two persons who are prone
to disagree, and to whom reconciliation is difficult, we cannot be far
wrong in concluding that both are full of pride. Therefore it is
obvious
that charity cannot exist without humility.

It
is for this reason that St. Paul, after having exhorted Christians to
brotherly
love, advises them at the same time to be humble: "But in humility let
each esteem others better than themselves," [Phil. ii, 3] for well he
knew
that brotherly love cannot endure without humility; for where pride
exists
there will also arise contentions, quarreling and strife: "Among the
proud
there are always contentions." [Prov. xiii, 10]

Let us accept the apostolic admonition, and do not let us blame others
for their pride when they cause us displeasure, but rather blame
ourselves
for not knowing how to bear that displeasure with humility. Let us
begin
by acquiring that patient humility ourselves which we desire so much to
see in others, remembering that it is not through the patience and
humility
of others that we shall be saved but by our own.

43. It is difficult for those who possess riches or learning to be
humble,
because these two gifts are apt to cause vanity in those who possess
them.
It is far better therefore to be less rich and less learned and to be
humble,
than to possess great riches or great learning and to be proud.

Nevertheless,
many who are now Saints in Heaven were both rich and learned when they
were on earth; but they are Saints because they were humble; and both
riches
and learning must be regarded as vanity, and not esteemed except in so
far as they can help us to gain eternal happiness. This is the way of
the
truly humble; he does not esteem himself for his possessions or for his
knowledge, but regards these all as nothing, because he regards himself
also as nothingness.

"Set
not your heart upon them." [Ps. lxi, 11] This is not a counsel but a
precept;
and God, through His prophet, wishes to instruct us: If you are rich in
possessions or in knowledge, be nevertheless poor of heart, that is to
say, be humble. This is difficult, it is true; but to overcome the
difficulty
increases the merit of the virtue. There is no great merit in being
humble
when our condition is lowly, but there is great merit in being humble
when
we are surrounded by the incentives to pride, which are riches and
learning.
St. Bernard says: "It is no great thing for a man to be humble in
abjection,
but for one who is honored humility is altogether a great and rare
virtue."
[Horn. iv super "Missus est"] It is a beautiful sight for men and for
Angels
to see a rich man who is modest and apparently forgetful of his wealth,
and a wise man who seems unaware of his great knowledge.